Capitola Twilight Concert Series – Broken English

 

From San Francisco to the Central Valley, Capitola is a favorite destination for people who want to get away from the summer heat.  But sometimes the cool ocean breezes get a little too cool! 

Then blue skies turn overcast and breezes become wind… then comes the fog.

This was kind of the way Wednesday, July 21, 2010 was looking.  Oh, fine – just in time for the Capitola Twilight Concert! 

And tonight was featuring “Broken English”, a local band known for its Salsa/ Merengue/ Caribbean sound, not some moody melody band. 

Still, locals and visitors began the trek to the Capitola Bandstand around 5pm – plenty of time for the 6pm Showtime – to insure they would get a good spot.

It had been cloudy and windy all day, but that wasn’t enough to keep folks from the beach – or from bringing their lounge-chairs and goodie-bags to the lawn area in front of Blue Water Grill.

Broken English is the product of two lovers of Caribbean culture, Javier Muñiz and Ishmael Huggins Diaz.  Twenty and some-odd years ago, they formed Broken English, which has grown to become an 11-piece rhythmic juggernaut – featuring the Caribbean styles of Salsa, Merengue, Soca, Guajira, Rumba, Mambo, and others.

They claim to “take their audience on a Caribbean Cruise of musical styles”.  Horns enter through a framework of timbales and guitar, the piano weaves through conga beats and bass lines. Saxophone – the “Devil’s Horn”- adds spice to an already piquant blend of Calypso. 

By a little after 5 p.m., as soon as Broken English started to set up on the stage, the skies began to clear.

And once they started playing, and working their VooDoo Mambo Magic, they turned the enthralled audience into the Capitola Tonton Macoute, hanging on every note.

It is hard not to fall into their feel-good kind of groove.  Ishmael Higgins Diaz, the front man and good-will ambassador, intermittently referred to the crowd as ‘family” and “friends” throughout the show, sprinkling it with just enough Spanish and Portuguese to authenticate his message.

About half an hour into the show, I looked around to find a beautiful early evening had replaced the dismal day, forcing the foggy, soggy, blustery party-spoiler weather to watch from far off shore.

At 8pm, the show wound down to a reluctant – even for the players, it seemed – close.    

I saw people walking up the hill for at least a half and hour after it was over.  They must have had such a good time they didn’t want to leave!

Thanks so much to Christine Buechting of Edward Jones Investments and to Pacific Framing Gallery for sponsoring this show.

Oh, and the weather?  Well, once they stopped playing - the wind picked up, the temperatures cooled down, and the fog slowly crept back over the Capitola Village.

When I awoke this morning and walked out on my deck, it looked like it had rained.

It was “voodoo”, I tell you!

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